Notifications and SMS | ElevenLabs Documentation

Reception.ai sends notifications to you, your staff, and your clients when calls end, bookings change, and orders are placed. Configure them in Settings → Notifications, which has General, Email, and SMS tabs.

Notifications for you and your team

Notification	Default	What it sends
Post-call summary	On, by email	A summary after each conversation, listing new, rescheduled, and cancelled bookings, orders, messages, and unanswered questions
Staff booking notifications	On, by email	Tells the assigned staff member when their booking is created, updated, or cancelled
Your order notifications	On, by email	Tells your business what to prepare when an order is placed, with a link to the order

For post-call summaries, choose Notify me about every conversation (the default), or only conversations with bookings, orders, messages, or FAQ questions. Summaries go to the account owner’s email by default. You can add up to 10 email addresses, or receive summaries by SMS.

Notifications for clients

Notification	Default	What it sends
Appointment reminders	On, by email	A reminder before each appointment
Clients booking notifications	On	A confirmation right after booking, and messages when a booking is rescheduled or cancelled
Clients order notifications	On	A confirmation when an order is placed, updated, or cancelled, with a confirmation number and a link to manage it

Appointment reminders

Timing: 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 (default), or 48 hours before the appointment.
Reminder mode: Reminder only, or Ask client to confirm. With confirmation, the client replies YES to confirm or NO to cancel.

Email templates

In the Email tab, upload a logo (JPG, PNG, or WEBP, up to 5 MB) and edit the text of each email: confirmations, cancellations, reschedules, reminders, staff notifications, and order updates. Select text to edit it, and drag placeholders such as the client’s name or appointment time into the message. Select Restore defaults to reset a template.

A custom procedure email template is also available. Reference it in a procedure to have your receptionist send a specific email to a client during a conversation.

SMS

SMS lets you send confirmations, reminders, and updates by text message.

Sending numbers

Your number	Can send SMS
A number from your own Twilio account (BYO)	Yes, in any country
A Reception.ai number in Canada	Yes for automatic messages. A message you type needs a Twilio number.
A Reception.ai number in the United States	No. Connect a Twilio number to send SMS.
A Reception.ai number from a regulatory request	Yes. A number waiting on registration can send once it is approved. Typed messages in Israel need a Twilio number.

Choose the number to send from under SMS phone number in the notification settings.

Reception.ai numbers have a daily SMS limit: Trial 10, Basic 30, Plus 75, Premium 150. Numbers from your own Twilio account are not limited.

SMS templates

In the SMS tab, choose a style for each message type: Professional, Friendly, or Concise. Message types include reminders, confirmations, booking and order updates, post-call summaries, staff booking notifications, and the automatic reply to HELP.

Clients receive SMS only when they are opted in. When any client notification is set to send by SMS, the receptionist offers text reminders on calls: right after the first booking on a call, it asks a client who isn’t opted in whether they want a text before each appointment, mentioning that message and data rates may apply and that they can reply STOP at any time. The client is opted in only after a clear yes, and isn’t asked again once opted in. Callers can also ask the receptionist to stop text reminders.

A client who replies STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, or QUIT is opted out. Only the client can opt back in, by texting START or UNSTOP. A reply of HELP or INFO receives an automatic help message.

To receive replies such as STOP on your own Twilio number, turn on Enable inbound SMS for that number.

Sending an SMS to a client

Open a client and select Send SMS on their timeline. Messages can be up to 459 characters, and your workspace can send up to 30 per hour. Messages are sent from a Twilio number you connected, or from a Reception.ai number when your country allows it. Where that number needs regulatory registration, it can send once the registration is approved. The message is logged on the client’s timeline.

Incoming texts

When a known client texts your number, the message is logged as SMS Received on their timeline. Your receptionist does not reply to text messages conversationally.